Investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson has for a long time now been in pursuit of the full story about the Benghazi attack and surrounding events. Attkisson’s latest report concerns a former State Department official who alleges an effort to remove any damning documents from department files before they were handed over to the Accountability Review Board:

Exclusive: Was There a Benghazi Document-Scrubbing Operation in State Dept. Basement? One Former Diplomat Thinks So. http://t.co/nKViZThLpn

As the House Select Committee on Benghazi prepares for its first hearing this week, a former State Department diplomat is coming forward with a startling allegation: Hillary Clinton confidants were part of an operation to “separate” damaging documents before they were turned over to the Accountability Review Board investigating security lapses surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

According to former Deputy Assistant Secretary Raymond Maxwell, the after-hours session took place over a weekend in a basement operations-type center at State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. This is the first time Maxwell has publicly come forward with the story.

At the time, Maxwell was a leader in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), which was charged with collecting emails and documents relevant to the Benghazi probe.

Wow. Read Attlisson’s full report here. Maxwell has reportedly told the same story to lawmakers investigating Benghazi.

Fox News’ Brit Hume sees this as potentially unraveling a cover-up:

If this is confirmed, it's a big deal as it points unmistakably to the Benghazi cover-up many have long suspected. http://t.co/DLYz6wIm5k